The Tale of Locked Closets
by Kaegi
Summary: Shiina and Ooyama are sent on a special mission by Yurippe and the only thing Shiina can concentrate on is the weird feeling in the pit of her stomach, the heated cheeks, and the stuttered sentences. Of course, none of this helps when you've been accidentally locked in a janitor's closet. Surely she had gotten sick, but... how is that possible in the afterlife? (ShiinaxOoyama)


**I know it's a weird pairing but I've always thought ShiinaxOoyama it would work because Shiina loves cute things so much and Ooyama is just the cutest thing in the entire world (don't even deny it). Anyway, this started as a role play on my tumblr with my friend (her url is masasexual) and I loved it so much that I edited it, changed the ending, fixed a bunch of stuff, and well-... yeah. Anyway, enjoy~**

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It was another stupid mission that sets our story today. Another stupid story… another stupid day… another stup- well, you get the point.

Shiina had been sent on, yet another, stealth operation; though this time it wasn't alone. No. Definitely not alone. Much to her dismay, this time she was accompanied by none other than, the most annoying person she knew in her death (and probably life), Ooyama.

The reason Shiina had adapted such a newfound loathing to the annoying teenager during the past few weeks was the weird feeling she would get in the pit of her stomach every time she was around him. His deep green eyes would cause her cheeks to flare up, the way is messy brown hair was sometimes parted wrong made her toes curl. His relatively straight, compared to the other Battlefront members, brown uniform always seemed to catch her eye, even though it was exactly the same as all the other males. And, for absolutely no reason, she had to think very clearly before saying or doing anything around him.

This, obviously, threatened her as she had no idea why any of those things happened. Avoiding all contact with him had seemed to work for the most part; but now that they were on a stupid mission sneaking though the halls and doing whatever Yurippe told them to on the walkie talkie Ooyama had taken to keeping track of, it was slightly harder to do so.

From the wall they were crouched behind, Shiina had kept mostly silent, it was a good thing this was a stealth mission because that meant neither of them would need to talk much. A blessing from god, or whoever controlled this place.

Her red eyes turned around to look at him, which might have been the assassin's first mistake as her face did had its unfamiliar reaction again where it would get extremely hot. She quickly spun around attempting to concentrate on the task at hand.

Catching the red tinge that lit Shiina's cheeks as she looked at him and swiftly turned back around, Ooyama tapped her on the shoulder lightly and she looked back at him for a second time. "Are you okay?" he mouthed to her. He could feel his own face turning the same shade of pink as hers.

Along with the dark haired assassin, Ooyama had no idea why Yuri assigned him to be partners with Shiina of all people. She was the stealth specialist, not him. She was the one who had been said to 'defeat an army of one thousand' and have the 'strength of one hundred soldiers', not him. He would only slow her down and hold her back; and on top of that, he was sure that anyone would be able to detect them with how loud his heart was beating. For the past few weeks, every time he saw Shiina his face would turn bright red and his heart would beat in really weird patterns. It was… strange. It had never happened to him before, so he had no idea why it was happening all of a sudden.

Shiina's face reddened slightly more as he asked, he was quite close again and it bothered her to no end. Choosing not to answer him, as silence was better in this situation, and she didn't know what to say, Shiina turned back around only after a swift glare in annoyance.

She stood from the spot they had been crouching in before dashing across the hall to stoop in front of one of the many closet doors. Looking back over to him, she signaled for him to follow. As her crimson eyes made brief contact with is, she looked away.

Ooyama caught up with her and was almost across the hall when- oops! He tripped over air, causing him to knock into Shiina. They tumbled into the closet that Shiina had been crouched next to and instantly the door slammed shut with a loud bang.

Ooyama quickly tried to sit up, "uh… s-sorry about that." his eyes opened and both of them instantly realized how small the closet was, not only that but the position they were now in. One of Ooyama's hands was supporting his weight on a shelf just behind Shiina's head, as she was pushed to the floor and he half sit in her lap. His other hand rested on the floor next to her hip and both of hers were pressed against his chest.

Both of their faces burned red as Ooyama suddenly shot up. Only having about two feet of free space behind him he backed into the door. Instinctively he spun around to face the door and clumsily jiggled the handle. "h-huh!?" He tried a few more times before slowly turning to the dark haired girl, complete dread smacked across his face, "it… it won't open!"

Shiina shot up from the floor, shaking out of her daze as her hand shot forward as she took no account into how she pressed against the sharpshooter more; her chest on his as one arm pushed its way under his in her own attempts to open the cursed object. She struggled with it for a moment before realizing he was right, it wasn't going to open.

Their faces were no more than an inch from each other and suddenly Shiina shot back. Her spine colliding with the shelves as they rattled and several miscellaneous items fell from them onto the limited floor space.

A long silence feel over them, once again. "S- so what now." she stuttered in an uncharacteristic manor and looked away, glaring at a mop as it fell to the floor with a soft click. This would never have happened if Yurippe had just let her go alone.

Ooyama looked to the side, he was so close to her… he'd never been this close to a girl before; and on top of that, it was the girl that made his heart do weird things. A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. "I… I don't know."

There wasn't really anything they _could_ do, with them being so close together. They couldn't pick the lock because he knew for a fact that the school closets locked only from the outside, and there was nowhere near enough room for them to knock the door down.

"Oh! My radio! I can get Yuri to send help!" He reached in his back pocket and pulled out the device, swiftly he lifted a finger to press the 'talk' button when he realized something was wrong… something pretty important. "O-oh …oops." He held up the shattered deceive by a hanging wire as the sound of crackling static was heard before complete silence. Of course he broke it.

Shiina would have looked up at him and called him stupid or something along the lines, but eye contact was hard enough and she doubted words would come to her fast enough after that to be able to form a sentence. Instead she decided silence was the answer. Rather, she continued to look away from him, attempting to figure out a way that they _might_ be able to get out of there before it got any worse.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and realized he was only slightly taller than her, and almost the prefect height?_ N.. not that anything about him was enjoyable._ She thought about how cute he looked when he spaced out as Yurippe prepped them on missions or held meetings. _Not… that she looked his way at all._ And how he stuttered a bit in situations like this. _Because she didn't notice or anything_. There was also that smile that he had sometimes... Shiina liked it when he smiled. _Not that she cared if he was smiling or not, because she didn't._

Her head was not where it should have been, that was for sure. Which annoyed her to no end because she was supposed to know what to do. _She_ supposed to be resourceful in these situations. _She_ was supposed to have the plan. It was her _job_ do to that, not get stuck in stupid closets with stupid idiots like him.

She turned back to glare at him, "this is your fault." Shiina spat, letting her frustration out on the poor, annoying boy.

Instantly he stared down at his feet "s-sorry". Slowly Ooyama tried to flatten himself against the wall as best as he could so they wouldn't be as close, but it didn't do any good at all. They were still separated by only a few inches. It was stuffy enough in the closet in the first place, but that combined with Shiina's body heat and with the blush steadily growing across his face only made the room seem even hotter.

He wiped a second bead of sweat off his face. He really should have eaten more that morning, and actually had something to drink… "I-it's too warm in here… I… feel like I might-…" Ooyama couldn't complete his sentence as he completely blacked out and fell to the floor, unconscious.

Instantly Shiina jumped back, well at least, she would have if there was enough space. Unfortunately for her, the 'enough space' was the problem in the situation. Her back crashed against the shelves behind her for what felt like the millionth time as he swayed and slumped to the floor, taking up nearly all the space it had to offer.

She stood there for a moment staring at Ooyama as her feet moved back against a cardboard box and she tried not to make any physical contact with him. His head was directly at her feet and she tried to scooch to the side but there simply wasn't enough room. It was a good thing he was unconscious or dead or whatever.

Her heart began to pound in her chest again as she looked down at his face. He looked so at peace, even though he was probably in pain, and his face was so calm… she wanted to reach out and- NO! Her back collided with the shelves again as she jumped back in shock at what she had been thinking about. A loud clatter could be heard as a bucket from the top shelf, filled with some unknown liquid fell from its place. The bucket flipped, mid-air, drenching both of them in its contents as it landed upside down perfectly on her head.

Feeling some sort of liquid splash onto his face, Ooyama was revived him from his unconscious state. Slowly opening his eyes he realized that right above him was-… was-

"AH I'M SO SORRY!" he scrambled to his feet as fast possible, trying his best not to take a second peek up her skirt as he did so "I… I didn't mean to!" He looked into her eyes, or at least he would have if she didn't have a bucket over her head, and accidentally let out a small giggle. He slowly lifted the bucket from her head to see her eyes glaring the daggers that he should have been stabbed with by now.

"S-sorry… I didn't mean to pass out." he mumbled, realizing she probably had no idea about the little 'skirt incident' and it was best to cover it up this way.

"It…. it's okay." she told him looking away instantly. Wait! NO! It wasn't 'okay'!? How was it 'okay'? He had knocked into her, locked them in a closet, broken their only form of communication with the outside world, fainted, and now because of all of that _she_ was all wet! She looked up at him, readying her hardest glare. This was _so__amazingly_ far from oka-

Her face filled with blush as her nose accidentally rubbed against his and both of them immediately looked away in opposite directions. When had they gotten so close!? W-what was his problem! Was it just her or was the limited space getting one hell of a lot smaller!? Why was she freaking out so much over this!? Ooyama tried to back away, but his back was already flat against the wall. He looked back at her and couldn't help but think of how adorable it looked. A small part of his mind wanted him to get even closer to her…

WHAT? Where the heck did that thought come from? He was probably just having weird thoughts from being soaking wet in a small and stuffy closet, yeah that must have been it! They had to find a way out soon! Ooyama glanced around and he noticed a single towel on one of the shelves. He grabbed it and handed it to Shiina, his face still bright red as she looked down at it. The silence continued to loom over them. If she took it that would mean she could be partially dry, of course that meant he would be wet. _N-not that she cared or anything!_ But if he was wet he might get really cold and faint or die or something stupid like that, then she would have to deal with him again. So it really would have been better if he got dry, rather than her.

"No." she told him shoving the towel into his, very close, chest. "You… use it."

"No!" Ooyama shook his head and pushed the towel towards Shiina "I-I mean," he quieted himself, "it's my fault that you're soaked! Besides, we can't get sick so I'll be fine!"

Had Ooyama been anyone else, she wouldn't have cared much and taken it for herself. For some reason though, with him it was hard to do that. His cheeks were still red, something Shiina, wrongly, guessed was because of the wet cold. But that look in his eyes he would have, it was something she had a hard trouble explaining. It, strangely enough, didn't annoy her at all. It almost made her a bit… happy? It was like he cared if she was cold, even though that sounded extremely stupid.

_But_, as cute as that look he gave her was, she still wasn't going to abandon her mission and let him get cold.

Her face turned to annoyance and she swiftly unfolded the towel and wrapped it around his shoulder before stepping closer and pulling herself under it as well. If he was going to be stupid and annoying then she would-

Her cheeks flared up as she realized she had now made them _closer_ than they had been before! His eyes met hers in shock and Shiina looked away the instant they did. Why couldn't there just have been another_ stupid_ towel? It would be a lot easier if there had. Every once and a while she could feel his slight breathing against her cheek which didn't help keep down her blush.

"Just… get dry quickly." she muttered, still not looking at him as she tried to break the silence.

Why did he have to be so stupid?

"I-I'll try" he mumbled as he looked away from her.

After a moment he subconsciously moved slightly toward, enjoying the warmth that came from her. He looked up at her once more and examined the details on her face. He noticed the way her ruby eyes darted across the room, as though trying to avoid something. He noticed the way her cheeks turned a shade of red similar to his own.

He also noticed how soft her lips looked. He was tempted to close the few inches that lay between them. He looked away and began to nervously shake at that thought, hoping that she wouldn't notice him staring at her.

Shiina noticed his slight shaking, what was _his_ problem?

"Are you really that cold?" she asked looking back at him, irritated with the fact that she couldn't think straight and because he wasn't supposed to be cold. She was_ trying_ to keep him warm and wouldn't let her personal feelings for him get in the way of her next mission.

Ooyama blushed even more at her question. "Um… haha… yeah… I'm cold… s-sorry" he stuttered, mentally face-palming as he looked back at her.

"W- What do you want?" She annoyingly stuttered, realizing he was staring.

"N-nothing! I was just… thinking of a way to get out of here!" he quickly lied.

Shiina was about to make a reply about how his plan must not have been working that well if they were still here, but the second she opened her mouth to do so, she could hear the sound of the school bell ringing.

Her head shot up and her eyes widened in partial shock. She had completely lost track of time, they had spent almost the entire afternoon in there and she didn't even know. But… if the bell rang then maybe there was the possibility that someone would hear them if they made enough noise.

Instantly, Shiina shoved the annoying boy out of the way as the towel that had been around her shoulders dropped to the floor. Her fists came down quickly on the door of the closet and a loud bang bounced off the cramped walls.

She wanted to get out of there so badly, so amazingly badly that it almost hurt. She didn't want to be around him. She didn't want to be near him. And she most certainly didn't want to have to look at him again. It all gave her weird feeling that she was incredibly unfamiliar with, something Shiina didn't know how to react to. Her fists slammed against the door again in desperation. There had to be a way out, because she couldn't stand to be around him like this for one more second.

Meanwhile, Ooyama's face fell as she pounded on the door. Sure, it was understandable that she wanted to get out of there, but did she really want to be out _that_ badly? She acted like she was repulsed by him or something… and it kind of hurt him. Of course… he could never let her know about that. He backed up into the corner of the room and sat down, depressed, hoping she wouldn't notice him there.

On the, short, other side of the closet. Shiina banged on the door a final time before realizing her efforts were in vain, no one was coming and she doubted they could even hear her, it would be wise to save her energy.

She turned to look over at Ooyama who was where she had left him, er-… shoved him. Only now he had this weird expression on his face. She couldn't see it much because it was still quite dark, but it definitely wasn't what it had been before. Stepping up to him she brought her face right up to his with the hopes of getting a better look. "What's wrong?" she asked suddenly.

It took her a moment to realize what she had just done and asked, so almost instantly jumped back. "N-Not that I care or anything." she crossed her arms, looking away again as the blush that had made a seemingly permanent home on her face returned.

This was all so _stupid__._

"Do you hate me?" he suddenly asked.

Shiina looked back at him, she didn't know how to react to that. She didn't hate him, what gave him that idea? In fact, quite the opposite she actually liked him rather a lot. N-Not it that way, of course. No. No way… that would be stupid.

Either way, she couldn't have him think stupid things like that, especially when they weren't true at all. "I-… I don't hate you." she told him, trying not to fall for how cute he looked when he was pouting like that. It was like he was a little lost puppy, which made staying away from him _very_ hard to resist. "So stop that."

"You… you don't?" he sniffed and looked up at her slightly red face. Why was it red? Was she angry at him? No, that wasn't it, he's seen how she looks when she's angry, and this certainly wasn't it. He tilted his head in confusion, trying to figure out what she was thinking. "If you don't hate me then… wh-what was all that about?"

"What's what about?" She asked him in her usual tone.

His face turned an even deeper shade of red, "n-never mind" he buried his face back into his arms, out of embarrassment this time. Ooyama didn't want to tell her that he was upset because she acted like she didn't want to be anywhere near him. "I… was just acting weird for a moment, I don't know what came over me… heh" he smiled.

"Well then… stop it." she told him, resorting to her usual catch phrase under moments of stress and insecurity, "it's stupid." Shiina turned, attempting to make the most out of the room they had, which wasn't all that much. Her back slid down the front of one shelf and she sat on the partially cold tile, facing the door. Still looking away, she wordlessly glanced at the floor next her in an invitation for him to sit. If they sat like this they might just have enough room… hopefully.

"S-sorry" he took the seat, pushing away the forgotten and extremely damp towel, as their arms brushed against each other due to the restrained space.

An awkward silence decided that would be it's time to shine as they both slowly leaned away from each other. Shiina looking away and to the left as he did the same to the right.

After several moments Shiina curiously looked at him out of the corner of her eye and she could tell he had that look in his face again, something she could never quite put her finger on but she desperately wanted to be able to name. It annoyed her that she couldn't read him at all. For some reason, when it came to Ooyama he was a completely closed book; which, one wouldn't expect from a person like him.

At that thought she looked back at the, forever locked, door, briefly wondering how long they had been in there before brushing off the thought. It wasn't like it mattered anyway, she sighed.

Meanwhile, Ooyama stared into space as thoughts swirled around his mind. He was thinking about how happy he was he joined the Battlefront. He was happy beyond belief that he finally found a group that accepts him for who he is. Every time in the past he tried to be friends with someone, they tried to change him and then make fun of him because he was being himself. The battlefront wasn't like that, they love him for who he is, and that couldn't make him any happier.

He wondered how his life would be different if he knew them while he was still alive. Would they still treat him the way they do now? Would he still be best friends with Fujimaki? What would they all do together with they weren't fighting Tenshi? Would he still… feel the same way about the ninja seated next to him?

"Ooyama?" The girl he had been thinking about asked, breaking the silence, as well as his thoughts, and turning to him, "what's your favorite color?"

It was a random question and it didn't matter much, which lead her to wonder why she had asked it in the first place. Shiina had never been one for idle conversation, then why had she started one? Possibly it was her lack of knowledge on the boy before her and a subconscious need to know more.

"Wh-what?" he asked, slightly tilting his head in confusion, "W-well… uh… g-green I guess. Why do you want to know though?"

"I was just curious." Shiina scowled at him, he looked to cute like that. He always looked to cute… it annoyed her.

Stupid Ooyama.

"There's nothing else to do anyway." she told him, her blush, which had remained through the entirety of their episode, now faded. She was thankful for this, as the annoying heat constantly annoyed her.

Why did people normally blush? Wasn't it because they were embarrassed or something? Why was she embarrassed then? It must just be because it was a bit hot in there, right? He was a little red too and the heat would be the only explanation. Of course, they had been doused in a bucket of 'water' so they should be cold. She thought about this for a moment longer, "…Ooyama, why do people blush?"

"Eh!?" He became more puzzled as she asked that question. What she was asking him was strange and neither of them really knew why she was doing it. But he seemed to know more about these sorts of things than she did, so asking him could help, right? As she had told him before, there was nothing better to do.

"W-well… I-I think it's usually because they're embarrassed or something…" He could feel his own face blush more as he answered "o-or because they really like someone… I-I think… b-but why do you wanna know?" Was he asking her this because she noticed how much he was blushing!? But then… would that mean that she would think he was telling her that he liked her!? Well… he did like her… but he didn't want her to know that!

"I was just curious!" Shiina's head shot back to the door. Her guess had been right, for the most part; but what he had said about 'really liking someone' that confused her. Did he mean in a romantic way? Because she had been awfully red in the face for the longest time. So did that mean that she- No, that was stupid. It was probably just hot in there. That made a lot more sense…

Silence.

… but, then again. "…Ooyama?" she asked for the third time, "How do you know if you have romantic feelings for someone?"

Now that she looked at him, he was quite red and it seemed like he was getting more and more so by the second, maybe he thought it was hot too.

He began to stutter his answer "w-well… I-I think that, other than blushing, when a person likes someone… I-I think that their heart beats really fast around that person…"

Instantly her mind flashed back to the towel incident earlier. They had been rather close and she did recall her heart beating quite fast.

"… and they can't seem to stop blushing…"

It _did_ seem like every moment he was around her face lit up. But… that was just because of the heat, right? It-… it wasn't anything else. She _had_ blushed a lot before they had gotten stuck in there. Could that mean something?

"…. and they can't take their eyes off that person."

At the same moment both of their eyes shot to the side, meeting each other's for no more than a fraction of a second. It wasn't her fault she wanted to look at him, they were having a conversation it was a normal thing. Though, there were those times when she would watch him from her corner as they were bring briefed for a mission. Only sending him partial glances every once and a while, he never noticed of course because his back was to her and she would rather it be that way. But that didn't mean anything, did it…

"… T-they can't stop thinking about that person, no matter what they do." He gulped, thankful that their eyes were no longer meeting, "I-I think their stomach starts to feel really funny too… maybe."

Shiina had been feeling weird lately. She had passed it off as an illness but no one gets sick in the afterlife so it had puzzled her. It wasn't much of a 'sick' feeling though. If she had to describe it, she would say that it felt rather pleasant if anything and almost… nice. Like the feeling she got after mastering a new technique; but it was still different than that. Something more…

She froze for a moment realizing what she had just answered for herself. Eyes widening in realization the ninja half jumped. No- … that wasn't possible. There was no way. She wasn't- she didn't- … NO!

"Well, you must be wrong." she stubbornly shot out cursing the blush that rose to her face, "because… because…" she paused trying to think of some rational reasoning, "because… that just sounds stupid."

"B-but I'm not wrong… I mean… that's how I've felt when I've liked people before." he mumbled, just loud enough for Shiina to hear. Ooyama turned towards her and looked her in the eyes, "I don't think it's stupid either. I think it's really cute and sweet when people like each other." The brown haired boy cleared his throat, "B-besides, I don't think that people should hide their feelings from themselves," he whispered, unsure whether or not the girl next to him heard what he said.

Turning towards her once more he grinned at her, his face still red. "Why do you ask though? Is it because you might like someone? You can tell me!" Even though he was smiling at her like that, he hurt on the inside. Shiina probably asked him because she likes someone… and he knew that whoever she liked probably wouldn't be him, and that broke his heart. He still wanted to keep on talking to her, seeing as he usually never talked to her outside of missions, and that was the first thing that came to mind. He kept smiling at her as he waited for a response

"N-no." she immediately replied, of course she didn't, that was just stupid. And why did _he _have to be the one asking? It made everything worse because the way he talked about it made it sound as though he felt that way for someone, in fact, he admitted to it. And, even though she _definitely_ didn't care what he thought, she knew it wasn't her. How could it be her? He was nice and sweet and cute and she just… wasn't.

Shiina mentally slapped herself. Who cares? Worrying about things like that was stupid, she didn't need to even waste her time thinking about it.

But… he had told her that people shouldn't hide their feelings from themselves and it annoyed her that that was what she might be doing. Shiina hated being wrong as it was an imperfection, and she had always lived to be perfect. Still… maybe she was this time. All the symptoms he had told her she had felt when around him… every single one. So, maybe he was right, just slightly. She blushed again after looking at him out of the corner of her eye, "…maybe..." she corrected herself in a soft voice loud enough for him to hear, but still just above a whisper.

"R-really?" Ooyama's fake smile faltered for a moment as he met her eyes. She looked slightly embarrassed, so that confirmed it. Who was it though? Thoughts swirled all around his mind of people it could potentially be.

Was it Otonashi? He was a really nice guy, and everyone in the battlefront seemed to like him and think he was cool. Or… could it have been Hinata? After all, he is really handsome and athletic. Or… Takamatsu? He does do a lot of training and is really buff. Or did she like Noda because of how tough he acted?

Every single member of the battlefront went through his mind. He was pretty sure it wasn't himself though. After all, who would like him? He wasn't good at anything really. He was short and had no muscles at all. He wasn't very manly, and he wasn't very handsome either. He was labled as the guy whose talent was that he '_didn't have one'_. So how could someone as great and beautiful and wonderful as Shiina possibly like him? He knew it had to be someone else, it was just a matter of who.

"W-well… who is it? You can tell me. I won't tell anyone! I-I promise!" He could feel himself sweating, though he wasn't sure if that was because he was nervous or because of how cramped the closet was.

She wasn't going to tell him how she felt, that would be stupid and pointless. Anyway, he wouldn't feel the same way about her and that would lead to complications. It would be better to just ignore it and deny all she could.

All of a sudden the closet seemed a lot smaller than it probably was. She could feel her shoulder pressing against his as they sat on the partially cold floor, the walls almost moving in on them. She turned to her side just slightly and his face seemed closer than it had been a few moments ago. Why did he have to be turned towards her?

Blushing again, for some reason she couldn't turn away from him. Her red eyes stuck to his green and it annoyed her just slightly that he seemed to be able to hypnotize her. Fine then, if that was how he was going to be… Shiina glared at him for a moment.

He was so annoying.

And so stupid.

That look on his face irked her.

"You-.." Shiina couldn't word what she was trying to say, "you're so-" she paused herself again.

"Hmm? I'm so what?" he asked. All he did was ask who she liked! Why did she suddenly turn the conversation on him? And why was she glaring at him? Did he do something to annoy her?

He was just so stupid! Why did he care if she had romantic feelings towards him! He didn't need to know that! It was her own business and his persistence irritated her to no end!

Swiftly, and for no reason at all, Shiina reached up her annoyingly shaky hands and grabbed hold of either side of his face. In a flash she had pulled his head closer and her eyes slid shut to press her lips against his for only a moment. His green eyes widened is surprise as he could do nothing but freezing in place.

As quickly as she had done it, Shiina roughly pushed him away and pressed against the shelves on the other side of her with the hopes of getting as far away from him as she could. Her knees came up and her arms crossed over them, turning away and not daring to look back. Shiina had never kissed anyone before, obviously, making the experience quite new to her. The feeling of his lips on hers, even if it was only for a split second, was very good. And that was all she was going to dig into it.

The feeling he had described came back to the pit of her stomach and her cheeks blazed the deepest red she could imagine. Her hands clenched around her knees as she pulled them closer. If he never talked to her again she didn't care, he was stupid and annoying that was all. She glared into the miscellaneous objects lining the shelf, refusing to look back at him not even to see any expression on his face.

Ooyama was shocked and motionless. It took him a few moments before he could even react to what happened. He just sat there in surprise. Even if he wanted to move, he couldn' hands remained frozen on the cold floor, his eyelids remained wide open, unblinking, his mouth gaped open slightly as rugged, broken, breaths filled his lungs.

He had no idea how long he sat like that, the only view he had of her was her shoulder and head that was looking completely away from her. Her long dark hair falling behind her and partially over the one shoulder. Suddenly, his blush caught up with him. "wh…EH!? wh…wh… eh…?" was all he could say. She had completely broken him! But somehow his chest still filled with happiness. In fact, he was so happy that he felt like he was going to explode; but at the same time he was filled with confusion. It was so sudden and his head was spinning all around.

His stutters and obvious confusion only irritated her further. He was being so stupid…. and-.. and _why_ had she just _done that_? She was just so annoyed with him and she didn't know what was going on and then- …then he was just _there_ and she really wanted to, well…

Shiina scolded herself. Thinking things though was what she was supposed to do, acting on human impulses never got anyone anywhere and it certainly would have been better to keep them to herself at that moment.

It was obvious that he didn't enjoy those few seconds and he was trying to say something that would convey his feelings. Not that she cared, but she had probably stolen his first kiss or something stupid like that. Apparently it was a big deal, not that Shiina understood why. Saving something like that seemed pointless. Her memory was brought back to that very moment almost a minute ago. It was short and barely lasted a second, but Shiina had been trained long ago to analyse things that only lasted so long.

She replayed it over and over again in her head, each time it seemed to slow down and her mind automatically added parts that she might have wished happened. He would reach over and pull her closer, responding to her and not sitting like he was now. Shiina mentally shook her head, attempting to clear it. Though, even when she tried she could almost still feel his lips on hers. They had been soft, and warm; something she had almost expected yet it still came as a shock.

Shiina's concentration on the analysis of her mistake was broken as he finally spat out an, almost proper, sentence.

"uh… w-why? I-I mean… I… I… liked it… b-but why?"

Her head shot up from her folded arms, "Y-you liked it.." she turned to him and met his eyes for a split second before turning away as the scowl returned, "not that I care…" She blushed again.

This was so stupid.

He was still looking away from her, partially to hide exactly how red his face had gotten and also so that he didn't have to see the probably disappointed look on her face. He nodded in response to her, "y-yeah… I liked it a lot… but…" He slowly leaned closer to her, wishing more than anything that she'd turn back to face him, "but why?"

"B-…because." she glared at the door across from them, giving him a half view of her face. "I-I don't have to explain myself to you!" she quickly spurted out, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye for only a millisecond before turning back to the annoying object that she wished would just open.

"B-but…" Ooyama hesitated before quietly whispering "but… that was my first kiss… I… I want to know… why."

Shiina's cheeks reddened and her scowl left her slightly as her face became less tense and much calmer. She turned to look at him for a moment before looking back ahead of her. So it was his first kiss, she was right. Not that she cared or anything… which she didn't.

"Because I-…" It was moments like these that irritated Shiina the most. The moments where she didn't know what to say or how to act, what she should and shouldn't do. These moments where the ones that made her be the silent character that complained and preferred to stay in her dark corner. She didn't know how to act around people, much less people like Ooyama. Someone as kind and friendly as him. The sharpshooter always seemed so happy and full of life, e-…even though they were dead. It didn't really matter to him. She didn't know his past, he didn't know hers; but it almost appeared as though that didn't bother him. As opposed to her, that is, who struggled with it quite a lot. She had been the foolish one in life and died. It was stupid. Not her, of course, she wasn't stupid; the fact that she had died was the stupid thing.

Why couldn't she tell him any of this though? It was so easy to think and filter her mouth that it was what she naturally did. Shiina had always learned to be careful in what she did no matter what, think things through analyse the situation. That's what her training had taught her.

Slowly, and in a very out of character move which she had seemed to be doing a lot lately, Shiina let the filter fade; even just for a moment. "Because," she started again quickly turning her entire body to face him as she sat on her knees as they pressed against his thigh, "you said that when you like someone your heart starts to beat fast and," she reached over to grab his hand and press it to her chest, which she didn't realize was only slightly above her- well… yeah, to feel the hammering of her heart, as Ooyama flinched. "See?" she asked quickly dropping his hand and not taking a breath between her next sentence, "and they get red in the face," she pressed her hands against her cheeks for emphasis. "Then you said you can't stop looking at them." her hands dropped and she held his gaze. "A-.." she blushed again, refusing to look away, "and the feeling in your stomach…" the ninja drifted off as the feeling she was describing returned. Her face lowered, allowing her bangs to cover her eyes as blush filled her face and she slowly turned back around, her back pressing against the shelves as it had before.

Ooyama took a few moments to register everything he just heard as his mind spun. That means that… she likes him too!? But… how was that even possible?

"…I… I feel the same way" Ooyama shot out, breaking her thoughts "… I mean…" he returned to a shy voice, "even when I'm not around you… I… I just can't stop thinking of you for some reason… and my heart is beating just as fast as yours… see?" he reached over to take her hand and placed it over his heart, just like what she just did with him. He left their hands there as he continued speaking "I… I don't know how long I've felt this way… But I really like you, Shiina" he smiled at her, his face still bright red

Shiina's bangs still covered her eyes as her hand pressed against his chest, he was right and his heart was beating just as quickly as hers had been. The blush that had started to fade slightly when she could feel him smiling. Her face lifted up slightly and she met his eyes. She glanced to the side, unsure of what to do next which annoyed her, because she was always supposed to know. All she could do was nod slightly in response before quickly realizing her hand was still on him and pulling it back towards her as swiftly as possible, blushing harder.

"So… um… n-now what…?" Ooyama blushed and looked to the side. He genuinely had no idea what to do next. This was the first time he's ever liked a girl who liked him back, so he was clueless on what to do next. Should he hold her hand? Should he say something else? Should he- … should he try to kiss her again…

Awkwardly and slowly he leaned forward, meeting her eyes, one of his shaky hands reached up to cup her cheek as her eyes widened in shock. Was he going to- … to-…

Instinctively she leaned forward, as he followed soon after. She could feel his warm breath on brush across her lips, now only centimeters apart. Both of their eyes were still locked on each other's but soon Shiina's slowly began to flutter closed.

She was going to let him!? Really! Ooyama tried his best to calm his excitement as he tilted his head and butterflies erupted from the pit of his stomach. Just a little further and they would… so close-

In the next instant the door that had plagued both of them for so long suddenly shot open, "We _finally _found both yo-" the voice of their enthusiastic, yet merciless, leader was suddenly cut off as both Shiina and Ooyama froze. With the position they were in there was no way to misinterpret what would have happened in the net few seconds, had no one disturbed them. To make the situation even worse, both of them were still quite wet, not to mention the closet was completely torn apart. A towel and bucket on the floor, a mop shoved to the side, along with the knocked items both on the shelves and the floor.

"Nice job Ooyama!" Hinata burst out from behind the purple haired girl, a wide grin on his face as he broke the silence. Not everyone could get that far with such a demon-like girl, it must have been a new record or something.

"Get BACK!" Yurippe kneed him in the stomach as he fell to the floor and Otonashi laughed at him.

"Woah, dudes!" TK's voice rang through the closet.

"This is unexpected." Takamatsu readjusted his glasses.

Noda could only be heard scoffing as he shoved his halberd further up his shoulder, and Fujimaki laughed slightly at his friend's flustered appearance.

Shiina wordlessly shot up from the floor, and shoving Ooyama away grew redder than she had been the entire afternoon. She reached to her side, in an attempt to pull two daggers from her belt, only to realize they weren't there and were instead on the floor in front of the door and behind the rest of the Battlefront.

"Th- This isn't what it looks like! We- we were just! We-" Ooyama stuttered as he too shot up, equally red as he struggled to find an excuse for both of their appearances and the state of the small space. This was no fair! Why of all times did they have to burst in now?! Why couldn't it have been earlier when they wanted to be free?! Though… if it had been then, none of the past hour would have happened and he would have continued to think Shiina hated him.

Yurippe couldn't help but start laughing at both of them, "you're all morons." Hinata looked up from the floor he was still curled up in pain on as the others just sighed in slight irritation. She really _did_ sound like a villain when she laughed like that.

Ooyama and Shiina's eyes met for the millionth time in the past day before their gazes broke apart and both of them were pressed against opposite sides of the closet.

Their leader continued to laugh as the rest of the Battlefront continued to scoff at her and the newfound predicament. Things would most definitely be spread across the entirety of the SSS about this event. In the next week it would be all that anyone talks about, '_the harsh ninja found making out with, among other things, with the sweet best friend character!_' Most of the rumors would be false, obviously; but either way that it was looked at, this was either the start of something wonderful, or something extremely, awkwardly, infuriatingly awful.

Not so secretly, the ninja and sharpshooter both hoped for the first.


End file.
